LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas and Iowa State were supposed to play the first game of their two-game Big 12 men's basketball season series on Jan. 16 at Allen Fieldhouse.
COVID-19 protocols in the Cyclones' program forced postponement of that contest, however, and rescheduling efforts have resulted in a crazy quirk in the 2020-21 league schedule.
KU (13-7, 7-5 Big 12) and ISU (2-12, 0-9) will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday in Lawrence in a game to be shown live on ESPN, then again at 2 p.m. Saturday in Ames, Iowa (on ABC) with players on the two teams to be mighty familiar with each other by the weekend.
"I've never done it so I don't know what it's really like. I know you better win the first one, because there won't be much change in preparation. There will be some tweaking," KU coach Bill Self said Tuesday on his Hawk Talk radio show. "It'll be kind of like an NBA deal maybe, because in the NBA playoffs they always play Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday. There's always one day in between. That may be the biggest difference," Self added.
Upon further review, Self during a Wednesday Zoom call with reporters did acknowledge that two of his KU teams actually have played the same opponent back-to-back but in the span of five days.
In 2017-18, KU lost to Oklahoma State, 82-64, in Stillwater, Okla., in the final game of the regular season. Five days later, KU beat the Cowboys, 82-68, in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals in Kansas City, Mo.
In Self's first season at KU (2003-04), the Jayhawks beat Missouri, 84-82, in the final game of the regular season in Columbia, Mo., then knocked off the Tigers five days later, 94-69, in a Big 12 Tournament game in Dallas.
Roy Williams' Jayhawks played Iowa State back-to-back in 1989-90. KU won the regular season finale, 96-63, at Allen, then six days later won, 118-75, in the Big Eight Tournament quarterfinals in KC.
"We play Saturday/Monday all the time (in regular season). We play Friday/Sunday, Thursday/Saturday all the time in the NCAAs. It's like an NCAA Tournament game except you've got to drive four and a half hours in between sites. That does stink that you have to do it on a quick turnaround. Both teams are playing under the same guidelines. I don't think it'll be that big a deal. We're playing them back-to-back so I better like it and the players better embrace it. I'm sure they will," Self added.
Obviously the Jayhawks, who have lost five of their last eight games, would love to sweep the Cyclones, who have dropped eight in a row but have a full roster available this week for the first time in a long time. They've been hit hard by COVID-19 and injuries.
ISU has lost five games to ranked teams in the Cyclones' eight-game losing streak, with three of those five losses by less than eight points.
"This is the biggest weekend of our season in my opinion," said Self. He indicated the Jayhawks would love to make a push for second place in the league standings. KU as of Wednesday was in fifth place. Baylor led the pack at 9-0, followed by West Virginia (7-3), Oklahoma (7-4), Texas (6-4), KU (7-5), Texas Tech (6-5), Oklahoma State (5-6), TCU (4-5), Kansas State (1-11) and ISU (0-9)
"We need to play well. Each week gets bigger. This week is big for us," Self added.
The Jayhawks are coming off Monday's 78-66 home win over No. 23-ranked Oklahoma State. They play these two games versus ISU then travel to Kansas State on Wednesday.
"I think they are better than they've been any time this year," Self said of ISU, which lost at TCU, 79-76, on Tuesday. "This isn't the same team that played Mississippi State (and lost 95-56 on Jan. 30 at MSU). They've been hit pretty hard by COVID as evidenced by the number of games played. They've played nine. We've played 12. I feel for everybody going through that. I think they've been the best they've been all year."
ISU has four starters averaging double-digit points. Guard Rasir Bolton leads the way at 16.6 points a game.
The Jayhawks are 1-0 since falling out the AP Top 25 for the first time in 12 years. Freshman Jalen Wilson would love for the team to start winning consistently and get back in the poll.
"I don't think that's happened in a long time. That's happened to us. That really means something to us, motivates us to be better," Wilson said Wednesday. "We have a lot people watch us that have played here supporting Kansas for so long, so it's up to us to change that."
Self said: "It's better to be ranked than not ranked. If you don't like where you are ranked, then play better next week. We still control if we're going to be ranked or not. I wish we hadn't fallen out. We didn't deserve to be in. I don't see it as motivation but if the guys do use it as motivation, I'm good with that."
